Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't too sure when you first posted it.

I play chess online (www.gameknot.com) and are ranked somewhere near their 90th percentile. I still think I'm pretty average though and have heaps of improving to do! It's a very introspective game, I find.

Try S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow Of Chernobyl. In-game narratives change depending on the players actions and therefore the player can be subjected to a unique experience every time they enter the "world". The game-play is more based on survival than shooting the shit out of anything and everything. Had me hooked from the start with its intriguing story.

Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't too sure when you first posted it.

I play chess online (www.gameknot.com) and are ranked somewhere near their 90th percentile. I still think I'm pretty average though and have heaps of improving to do! It's a very introspective game, I find.

I think it is quite ok - it requires much concentration which might help you to improve yourself. I play chess competionally (some 2050 international rating) and I like it still it could get bit dangerous when you take it too seriously (like I did when I was younger). It is better than any game I believe, still only a game

I though it was a well established concept that anything other then music is not a direct manifestation of will.

If one considers this fact that everything apart from music has a representation of will cant there have been something before video games that hides itself further in representation? I just don't see how its more of a representation because of its virtual nature. Isn't actual nature more of a representation of will then virtual nature?

You can get intoxicated to see another world. Do you need to do it every day? If so, the only world you're seeing is your own, masturbator.

People will use any excuse to keep doing the comfortable things that keep them slaves. Enjoy your servitude, wiggers!

Through this whole post I saw not one useful point. Calling me a masturbatory meant absolutley nothing.

I agree, pointless intoxication is stupid. Do you think that my views are any different on people who waste their whole lives away in front of a computer screen or tv? No. Not in the least.

How is viewing certain games as art a pretense? Just because you say it does not make it so. You can dig much deeper and philosophical meanings out of many games.

If you view them as a medium through which a story is told they can most certainly be seen as a viable way to spend small amounts of your time.

The games as art debate has been going on for a long time now. My stance on the subject is that some, not all, games could be considered art. Just like music, the ones that manipulate the players emotions are always the best.

For example, I will use a game that I have mentioned previously : Shadow of the Colossus. The game has you, the main character, progressing by slaying beautiful creatures that have existed for centuries, so that a girl (Who's importance to the protagonist is never revealed.) may live. You can see your character losing his humanity with each of the beasts he slays, until all that is left of him is gone and his husk is possessed by the "god" who employed him.

I would say that it is a very thought provoking piece which discusses humanities current disregard for the natural world and our inability to realize that what is close to us is not the most important thing in the world. Among other issues.

Once again, a life spent in front of a game console is a meaningless one, but in moderation they can be rewarding experiences.

You have yet to display any knowledge of games in general. You seem to be resorting to name calling to get your half thought out point across.

Now, throw something intelligent my way and maybe I will listen to your argument, but calling me a masturbator does not affect me in the least.

Oh, and Starcraft 2 is going to be fucking awesome. I had so much fun playing one, I hope 2 can live up to it.

Not all video games are garbage; most of them are. The quality of video games is decreasing rapidly, which is why I haven't played any game for a year (the last was Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines).

It is very arrogant and high and mighty to call every person who plays video games a masturbator or otherwise. I agree that most gamers are losers who don't have a life, hence they play EVERY possible game that comes out, out of duty, not out of fun.

In all of my life I have played perhaps 20 games in total since I'm very selective what I play, and most importantly, I play video games in MODERATION, to relax.

I would like to give an example how video games can be intelligent: in Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura a player gets to visit the dwarf colony and gets to hear about their Philosophy of Stone and Shape (only if his intelligence attribute is high enough:)

Dwarves believe that the cause of all creation is something they refer to as the Stone (found in nature) that is the firm foundation of the natural world. In order to find their place in the world, they have to realize, according to their perspective and abillities, the Shape of the Stone; the better the Shape, the better the realisation of the Stone. This is the philosophy of integralism, we are one with the world and we try to function within it on higher levels by creating better Shapes (us) of the Stone (world), id est, in accordance with our natural world, not against it. Pretty smart for a videogame, right?

In the same game, Elves belive in the same thing, only their Stone is Trees, Forests, and they are like the Branches of that Tree, like the Shape of the Stone in the Dwarf mythology. In these examples we see that they are connected wholly with their natural world, they don't consider themselves above it, like christians (although Dwarves later abandoned this view when they invented steam engine, which came into the human hands, and the trouble started...)

The point is that games can be intelligent, and while you play them in moderation (to relax), you can not only learn English better, but even think about something.

There's time for everything, including resting time, if you don't have a good book to read at that moment, or a worthy film to watch, you can play video games like Fallout 1&2, Arcanum, Baldur's Gate and few others...

So fuck anyone who scorns you automatically just because you sometimes play good video games to rest and relax, I do it, not ashamed of it, and I do translational work for anus, so why would I do that if I was some ordinary stupid gamer?

Not all video games are garbage; most of them are. The quality of video games is decreasing rapidly, which is why I haven't played any game for a year (the last was Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines).

It is very arrogant and high and mighty to call every person who plays video games a masturbator or otherwise. I agree that most gamers are losers who don't have a life, hence they play EVERY possible game that comes out, out of duty, not out of fun.

In all of my life I have played perhaps 20 games in total since I'm very selective what I play, and most importantly, I play video games in MODERATION, to relax.

I would like to give an example how video games can be intelligent: in Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura a player gets to visit the dwarf colony and gets to hear about their Philosophy of Stone and Shape (only if his intelligence attribute is high enough:)

Dwarves believe that the cause of all creation is something they refer to as the Stone (found in nature) that is the firm foundation of the natural world. In order to find their place in the world, they have to realize, according to their perspective and abillities, the Shape of the Stone; the better the Shape, the better the realisation of the Stone. This is the philosophy of integralism, we are one with the world and we try to function within it on higher levels by creating better Shapes (us) of the Stone (world), id est, in accordance with our natural world, not against it. Pretty smart for a videogame, right?

In the same game, Elves belive in the same thing, only their Stone is Trees, Forests, and they are like the Branches of that Tree, like the Shape of the Stone in the Dwarf mythology. In these examples we see that they are connected wholly with their natural world, they don't consider themselves above it, like christians (although Dwarves later abandoned this view when they invented steam engine, which came into the human hands, and the trouble started...)

The point is that games can be intelligent, and while you play them in moderation (to relax), you can not only learn English better, but even think about something.

There's time for everything, including resting time, if you don't have a good book to read at that moment, or a worthy film to watch, you can play video games like Fallout 1&2, Arcanum, Baldur's Gate and few others...

So fuck anyone who scorns you automatically just because you sometimes play good video games to rest and relax, I do it, not ashamed of it, and I do translational work for anus, so why would I do that if I was some ordinary stupid gamer?